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Willie Colon for another year?

The Pittsburgh Steelers were expected to part ways with Willie Colon, but it appears the left guard isn't going anywhere for the time being.

Colon's agent, Joe Linta, told Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the Steelers' front office said they aren't planning to do anything with the veteran's contract and have not requested a pay cut.

Colon, 29, is set to earn $5.5 million next season as part of the five-year, $29 million contract he signed in 2011. The sense around the Steelers was that Colon would be cut as Pittsburgh sought to overhaul its offensive front with more athletic and durable linemen. Colon has started only 13 games over the past two years and wound up on injured reserve for the third straight season in 2012.

The Steelers have been tinkering with their line for years. They have young talent at guard in David DeCastro and are high on Kelvin Beachum as a potential answer inside. Colon is safe for now, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see the Steelers come calling about a reduction in pay before the season starts -- if he lasts that long.

Follow Marc Sessler on Twitter @MarcSesslerNFL

I don't mind if he stays we'll need the depth, but I think a pay cut is definitely needed.

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[QUOTE=Mister Pittsburgh;551895]I wonder if Willie has a personalized, pimped out whirlpool tub down on the southside. Probably has jets in it and a TV mounted on it with a cooler attached.[

His bust will soon be gracing the Kendrell Bell Memorial Steelers' Training Facility Hall of Fame. I think they'll be putting it next to Chris Fu'umatu Ma'afala's. Duce Staley got an entire statue so they could depict him in a lifelike sweatsuit.

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Join Date

Feb 2013

Location

Near Charlotte, NC

Posts

184

On a more serious note, when the Steelers gave Willie Colon that contract, he was expected to anchor the line at a Tackle position for years to come, had consistently graded out as one of the best all around RT's in the league according to statistical metrics I saw at the time, and was attracting interest from the Bears. It's a Moneyball signing gone bad. The contract should be redone to reflect the pay of a starting guard... BUT when he was healthy last year, his impact in the running game was undeniable. The season ended so badly that we forget how exciting it was to watch our offense plug in Redman and Dwyer interchangeably and watch them rip off 140 a game like the old days for a few weeks in October and November. Willie Colon played a big role in that... and the rushing attack died on the vine the minute Ramon Foster replaced him.

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Join Date

Jul 2008

Posts

3,320

ramon foster replaced david decastro, so to say the running game "died on the vine" when he replaced colon is patently false. He would have been playing in october and november at RG when we were so "exciting".